James greeiwood



ses@

' strut @frn MACHINE FUE STEAIGHTENNG THE WEET OR FIGURES OP TEXTILE FABRICS.

@In Stigrbuletefcmh tu luttes Enters ntent mit milking nrt nf tlgetnme.,

TO ALL PERSONS TO WHOM THESE PRESENllSHALL COME:

Be it known that I, JAMES GREENWOOD, of Clinton, in'thc county ofWorcester, andState of Massachusetts, have-invented a new and useful Machine for Straightening the Weft or Figures of a Textile Fabric; and I do hereby declare the same to be full)r described in the following specification, and represented in theaccompanying drawings, of which Fig'urcfl a top View;` and v Figure 2,. a side'elevation of such machine.

Figure 3 is alongitudinal section of it.

Figure is a longitudinal section of its straightening-roller.

Figure 5 is a transverse section of such roller.

VIn the process of Afinishing or preparing either printed or woven fabrics, or pieces of cloth having figures `either printed or interwoven upon or in them, the weft threads are liable to be drawn out of straight lines, or to become more Yor less crooked, whereby the igures are rendered uneven or out of proper shape. The purpose of my invention is to effect the restoration of the fabric to its no rm'al condition; that is, to strengthen the weft or filling threads which may have been drawn more or less awry. To this end I make us i e of certain rollers or their equivalentsA for supporting the piece of cloth, straining it, and moving it longitudinally; and with such I employ an ,expansible and contractible roller, vi'z, a roller so constructed as to be capable of being expanded in diameter at its ends,while its middle is inexpansible; or, what would be an equivalent for such roller,` one made so asto be either expansible or contractible dialmetrically at its middle, and inexpansibl'e at its ends, These devices I arrange and construct in manner as, hereinafter explained, although I do not-confine my inve u such an arrangement or constructionof them, as there may be variations of such without materially ae changing the principle of my. invention. i

ntion to ctng or In the drawings, A denotes a frame, which supports atone end a beam or roller, B, andat the. other end i another such beam or roller, C, a piece of cloth, D, 'to be operated on being wound on one roller, and extended to and for the purpose of being wound upon the other. i The shaftof each of these rollers may-be provided with a crank, a, or other propermeans for putting the roller in revolution en its axis. Over one of such rollers, viz, that marked B, is a large roller or drying-cylinder, E, which may be hollow to receive hot air or steam for the purpose of heating such roller. There is also above the roller C a guide-roller, F. Between the roller and cylinder E, and near to the latter, I arrange, in manner as represented in the drawings, what term a stmghteningqoller, G, one of: whose journals, te, is supported in a, stationary box, d, the other being supported and having a bearing within the/upper arm of alever, H, applied to one side of the frame. The said lever turns on a fulcruxn, e, project-ing from the frame. I A semicircular limb, f, is fastened to the frame and arranged aga-inst the longer arm of the lever. A clamp-serew bolt, g, ygoes through a. slot, lain the limb, and also through the longer arm of the 1ever and has a nut, z', screwed upon its screw, the object of such limb, clamp, screw, and nut being to fix the lever in position afterbeing turned on its fulcrum, so as to carry one end of thestraighteningroller either toward or away from the cylinder E. The said straightening-roller may be made as follows,ithat is to` say, it may consist of a series of elastic staves or portions, ll, ma'de like barrel' staves, and-arranged around and 'fastened at their middles to a' polygonal block, m, fixed coneentrically on the middle of a tubular shaft, n. From each of such staves two dove-tailed studs o o project, they being arranged at, or about at, equal distances from its middle, and on opposite sides thereof. They enter into dove-tailed grooves p p, made in two conical frusta r r, (see iig. 6, whichis a side View of` one of such frnsta,) which are arranged on the tubular shaft n, and so as to be capable of being slid or moved longitudinally thereon. From each'of such frusta a projection, s, extends into and through one of -two slots t t, made in the shaft lengthwise. A rod,.u, going through 'the shaft, and having milled heads 1: e on its ends, and being xed on thcshaft so as to be capable of being revolved' thereon' without atthe same time having an endwise movement, has two male scews w formedon it, one beingja right and the other a left screw. These screws screw into the projectionsv s s of the two frusta; and thus, when the rod is revolved, thei'rusta may be caused to either approach towardor recede from each" other, according to the direction 4in which the rod may be` revolved. These movements of the frusta will canse the roller to be either expanded or contracted in diameter at each of its ends. The straightening-rolleris borne against the cloth, or,

in other words, the cloth, by going underneath it in ma will be borne against the rollers. During the Winding of tb the other, it .will be drawn against the straightening-roller, and will put the latter in revolution. Now, should the weft of the cloth not be straight in any partof the piece, it may be rendered straight by the action of the roller G, which, by being expanded at its ends, will cause the piece of cloth to be drawn forward more atits selvedges than at its middle. So, in. case the roller is made larger in diameter in its middle than it is at its ends, it will cause the cloth at its middle to move forward faster than it will at its selvedges. In this way the cloth may be stretched so as to bring its wai-ps into their normal state. But when the cloth at or near one selvedge requires to be strained or allowed to pass on faster than at the other, this may be effected by means of the lever H, that is, by turning it so as to cause the'roller to bear more at one end against the cloth than it does at the other. This machine in practice has been found to be of great utility. The cloth while being passed through it should be ina wet or moist state.

I claim the machine substantially as and for' the purpo straightening-roller made expansible and contraetible `as set forth, but of rollers, or their equivalents, for presenting the cloth to the action of such roller, and moving such cloth with respect to it, substantially as explained.

I also claim the combination of the adjustable lever, or its equivalentnvith the straightening-roller, supported as described, and combined with rollers, or their equivalents,for pres roller, in manner and for the purpose as lset forth.

` JAMES GREENWOOD.

e cloth upon one-beam, and the unwinding it from sie/described, that is, as composed not only of a Witnesses:

SAMUEI. N; PIPER, Rf H. EDDY.

nner as represented in the drawings, and in being stretched,

euting a piece of cloth to the action of such 

